Method for non-microslip based dual clutch transmission power on up shift

ABSTRACT

A method of controlling a dual clutch transmission power on up shift including an on-coming clutch and an off-going clutch. The method includes implementing a prep phase comprised of decreasing torque on the off-going clutch, monitoring the off-going clutch speed to determine a slip point, and adding a bump torque to the off-going clutch when the off-going clutch reaches the slip point. The method implements a torque phase transferring torque from the off-going clutch to the on-coming clutch by increasing torque on the on-coming clutch towards an engine torque, decreasing torque on the off-going clutch, and simultaneously keeping the combination of torques greater than the slip point.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This Application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application 61/847,245, filed on Jul. 17, 2013, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Vehicles incorporating automatic transmissions shift automatically between gears in the transmission in response to changes in the throttle. For example, when a driver adjusts an accelerator pedal, these changes adjust the automatic transmission to find the appropriate gear. There are different types of shifting scenarios including power on/off upshifting and power on/off downshifting. Power On shifting refers to shifting into a higher gear (upshifting) or a lower gear (downshifting) when the accelerator pedal is depressed. Power Off shifting refers to shifting into a higher gear (upshifting) or a lower gear (downshifting) when the accelerator pedal is released.

One form of automatic transmissions utilizes a dual clutch in order to shift between gears. In these dual clutch transmissions, there is commonly an off-going clutch that is engaged to and driving the present gear and an on-coming clutch that is used to engage the gear to be shifted into (upshifting or downshifting). It is necessary to balance torque between the on-coming and off-going clutches in order to provide a smooth shift quality. Some systems utilize a process where the off-going clutch is ramped down to induce a continuous microslip. This microslip is used to determine an appropriate torque to apply to the on-coming clutch. The use of this microslip technique accounts dynamically for engine torque and clutch torque errors as well as I-alpha components.

In commercial vehicles utilizing dual clutch transmissions, it may be desirable to utilize a technique other than a sustained microslip technique. This may additionally be desirable in commercial vehicles having deep start ratios and flexible drivelines as compared to standard automobiles. In commercial vehicles with an off-going gear ratio equal to or greater than 4, a technique other than microslip may also be highly desirable for improving shift quality.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Referring now to the drawings, exemplary illustrations are shown in detail. Although the drawings represent representative examples, the drawings are not necessarily to scale and certain features may be exaggerated to better illustrate and explain an innovative aspect of an illustrative example. Further, the exemplary illustrations described herein are not intended to be exhaustive or otherwise limiting or restricting to the precise form and configuration shown in the drawings and disclosed in the following detailed description. Exemplary illustrations are described in detail by referring to the drawings as follows:

FIG. 1 is an exemplary illustration of a dual clutch transmission;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary method of controlling a dual clutch transmission; and

FIG. 3 is a graphical illustration of the exemplary method shown in FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A dual clutch transmission in a commercial vehicle may incorporate the capability to power on upshift between gears having relatively large gear ratio step sizes. It would be desirable for this shifting to provide a quick and smooth shift quality even when shifting between large gear ratios. To accomplish such shift quality, the dual clutch transmission may employ exemplary prep phase techniques to quickly determine shifting parameters. In addition, the dual clutch transmission may employ exemplary torque phase techniques to transfer from an off-going clutch to an on-coming clutch.

An exemplary prep phase technique may include a decrease in the torque of the off-going clutch while monitoring the off-going clutch speed. During a power on upshift, this will result in a sudden dip in off-going clutch speed when a slip point is reached. When this slip point is reached, this exemplary technique applies a bump torque to the off-going clutch to re-engage the clutch. The slip point is used in an exemplary torque phase technique. The exemplary torque phase technique increases torque to the on-coming clutch while simultaneously decreasing torque to the off-going clutch. The combination of the off-going clutch torque and the on-coming clutch torque is maintained above the slip point during this torque handover. This allows a quick and smooth transition between the off-going clutch and the on-coming clutch during power on upshifting.

Referring now to FIG. 1, an engine driveline assembly 100 for a vehicle is shown. The driveline assembly 100 generally may include an engine 102 connected to a dual clutch transmission assembly 104 by way of a crankshaft 106. In an exemplary arrangement, the dual clutch transmission assembly 104 includes a clutch case 108 housing a first clutch 110 and a second clutch 112. In this exemplary example, the first clutch 110 communicates with a first (outer) transmission shaft 114 and the second clutch 112 communicates with a second (inner) transmission shaft 116. It should be understood that the illustrated first and second transmission shaft 114, 116 arrangements are illustrative only and do not limit the present disclosure. A plurality of transmission gears 118 are in communication with the first and second transmission shafts 114, 116 as well as a drivetrain 120 in order to selectively transfer drive from the engine 102 to the drivetrain 120. In at least one exemplary illustration, even transmission gears 122 are in communication with the first transmission shaft 114 and therefore the first clutch 110 and the odd transmission gears 124 are in communication with the second transmission shaft 116 and therefore the second clutch 112. A clutch control assembly 126 is in communication with the dual clutch transmission assembly 104 and with the engine 102 to control operation of the engine drive assembly and the selection of specific transmission gears 118.

When the system experiences a power on upshift, where the accelerator pedal is pressed and a higher gear is desired, the clutch control assembly 126 must facilitate the transition between an off-going clutch and an on-coming clutch. In the above exemplary example, if an upshift from second gear to third gear is needed during acceleration, the clutch control assembly 126 must transition from the first clutch (off-going) 110 to the second clutch (on-coming) 112. This is accomplished by removing the torque from the off-going clutch and increasing torque on the on-coming clutch. However, when experiencing shifts between large gear rations, such as those equal to or greater than four (4), this transition or handoff may become challenging to accomplish quickly and smoothly. An exemplary approach is provided that provides a quick and smooth transition between an off-going clutch and an on-coming clutch.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, an exemplary approach for operation of dual clutch transmission 200 is provided. For the purposes of simplicity, method steps (200) will refer to FIG. 2 and elements (300) will refer to FIG. 3. The method includes an initial prep phase 202. In this prep phase 202 an on-coming clutch pre-fill step 204 is performed. The clutch pre-fill step 204 increases the torque on the on-coming clutch 112 up to a pre-fill level 300. In one exemplary example the pre-fill torque may be a plate-touch-point torque, which is the torque transmitted by the clutch when the clutch plates come into initial contact. In another exemplary example, the pre-fill torque may be between 50 nm to 200 nm. The prep phase 202 includes the step of decreasing the off-going clutch torque 206 (off-going clutch torque 301). This may be accomplished in a variety of ways. In one exemplary example, the off-going clutch 110 has its torque decreased linearly towards an estimated slip point with an approximated value of (engine torque 302—on-coming clutch pre-fill torque 300—a gear offset torque 304). The gear offset torque 304 is simply a gear dependent offset value or error value that provides an additional range to ensure slip occurs. It should be understood that these values (engine torque 302, on-coming clutch pre-fill torque 300, a gear offset torque 304) are not values that need to be monitored in real time. The exemplary example only needs to monitor slippage of the off-going clutch 110 to d-going etermine the relevant slippage.

In this step the torque of the off clutch 110 is decreased until the off-going clutch 110 experiences a slip relative to the engine 102 referred to as a slip point 306. This is accomplished through slip monitoring step 208. Although this may be determined in a variety of fashions, one exemplary example contemplates monitoring the off-going clutch speed 308. When slippage occurs during power on situations, the off-going clutch 110 will indicate a sudden drop in speed relative to the engine speed 310. It is further contemplated that the engine speed 310 could be monitored as it will reflect a sudden increase relative to the clutch speed in power on situations when slippage occurs. Upon the determination of slippage occurring, the method includes the step of adding a bump torque to the off-going clutch 210 to stop the slippage immediately. The bump torque 312 may be any incremental torque to overcome the slippage. In at least one exemplary example, the bump torque 312 may be gear dependent such as the gear offset torque 304.

The prep phase 202 allows the clutch controller 126 to determine the slip point 306 that reflects the torque necessary to prevent clutch slippage. In an exemplary example, the on-coming clutch 112 reaches the pre-fill level 300 prior to the off-going clutch 110 experiencing slippage. This allows the slip point 306 to accurately reflect that joint torque combination of the first and second clutches 110,112 that prevent slippage from occurring. This slip point 306 is then used as the method moves into the torque phase 212. The torque phase 212 controls the handover or transfer of torque control from the off-going clutch 110 to the on-coming clutch 112. This is accomplished by simultaneously increasing torque to the on-coming clutch 214 while decreasing torque to the off-going clutch 216. In the exemplary example, the off-going clutch 110 has its torque decreased linearly while the on-coming clutch 112 has its torque increased linearly such that the combination of torques at all times is greater than the slip point 306.

In an exemplary example the on-coming clutch 112 has its torque increased by directing it toward an engine torque engagement point 314. The engagement point 314 represents the engine torque 302+a feed forward engine torque+an engine flare feedback. Feed forward engine torque represents the change in engine torque based on any changes in the throttle during the process of increasing torque on the on-coming clutch 112. Engine flare feedback is an adjustment performed by monitoring engine speed 310 and adjusting the increase in torque of the on-coming clutch 112 to eliminate such flare (sudden increase in speed). This provides a smooth transition of the on-coming clutch 112 to the engine torque engagement point 314. At the same time, the off-going clutch 110 is being decreased towards a baseline off-going clutch torque 316. This represents a calibrated minimum off-going clutch torque. In one exemplary example the off-going clutch torque 316 is arrived at prior to the on-coming clutch 112 reaching the engine torque engagement point 314. In addition, in another exemplary example, the off-going clutch torque 316 is arrived at prior to the on-coming clutch 112 reaching the slip point 306. This provides a smooth and reliable handover of torque from the off-going clutch 110 to the on-coming clutch 112.

Finally, the illustrative approach 200 may enter an inertial phase 218 wherein the on-coming clutch 112 takes complete control and the off-going clutch 110 can be moved into an unlocked condition. In the inertial phase 218, the off-going clutch disconnect 220 may be accomplished by decreasing the off-going clutch torque 301 to an off-going clutch disconnect point 318 over a disconnect period 320. The horizontal axis in FIG. 3 represents time in milliseconds. In one exemplary example the disconnect period is a function of the particular transmission gear 112 that the off-going clutch 110 is engaged to. In another exemplary example, the disconnect period 320 may be a period between 10 ms to 200 ms. The disconnect period 320 is utilized to prevent unwanted oscillations of the off-going clutch 110 during the disconnect transition.

The inertial phase 218 further contemplates adjusting the on-coming clutch speed 322 to match the engine speed 310. This is accomplished by inducing an inertial torque step 222 wherein the inertial torque 324 is increased and a speed comparing step 224 where the engine speed 310 is compared to the on-coming clutch speed 322. The inertial torque 324 is a net negative torque imparted to the engine by increasing the torque of the on-coming clutch 112. As the on-coming clutch torque 300 is increased over the engine torque engagement point 314, the engine torque 302 decreases. This allows the engine speed 310 to be gradually reduced until it comes into alignment with the increasing on-coming clutch speed 322. This further produces a smooth and reliable shift even during power on upshifting and even when the gearing ratios may be high. The exemplary method for dual clutch transmission 200 provides a smooth and reliable handover from the off-going clutch 110 to the on-coming clutch 112 without the need to induce microslip into the off-going clutch 110 prior to transitioning.

Accordingly, it is to be understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive. Many embodiments and applications other than the examples provided would be apparent upon reading the above description. The scope should be determined, not with reference to the above description, but should instead be determined with reference to the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. It is anticipated and intended that future developments will occur in the technologies discussed herein, and that the disclosed systems and methods will be incorporated into such future embodiments. In sum, it should be understood that the application is capable of modification and variation.

All terms used in the claims are intended to be given their broadest reasonable constructions and their ordinary meanings as understood by those knowledgeable in the technologies described herein unless an explicit indication to the contrary is made herein. In particular, use of the singular articles such as “a,” “the,” “said,” etc. should be read to recite one or more of the indicated elements unless a claim recites an explicit limitation to the contrary.

The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to allow the reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various features are grouped together in various embodiments for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus, the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separately claimed subject matter. 

1-20. (canceled)
 21. A method of controlling a dual clutch transmission power on up shift, including an on-coming clutch and an off-going clutch, comprising: implementing a first phase that establishes an on-coming first phase torque and an off-going first phase torque such that a first phase slippage between the on-coming clutch and the off-going clutch does not occur; implementing a second phase, after the first phase, wherein an on-coming second phase torque is increased and an off-going second phase torque is simultaneously decreased such that a combination of the two second phase torques is greater than a second phase slip point, until the off-going second phase torque reaches a baseline off-going second phase torque; and implementing a third phase, after the second phase, wherein a net negative torque is imparted to the engine by increasing an on-coming third phase torque.
 22. The method of claim 21, wherein the net negative torque is imparted to the engine by increasing the on-coming third phase torque until the engine speed decreases and is in alignment with a speed of the on-coming clutch.
 23. The method of claim 22, wherein the third phase further includes decreasing an off-going third phase torque from the baseline second phase off-going torque to a final off-going third phase torque and during a disconnect period.
 24. The method of claim 23, wherein the disconnect period occurs when the net negative torque is imparted to the engine by increasing the on-coming third phase torque.
 25. The method of claim 21, wherein the first phase further comprises: decreasing the off-going first phase torque on the off-going clutch; determining a first phase slip point of the off-going clutch when the first phase slippage occurs; and adding a bump torque to the off-going clutch when the off-going clutch begins to slip at the slip point, the bump torque preventing any further off-going slip.
 26. The method of claim 25, wherein increasing the on-coming second phase torque comprises increasing the on-coming second phase torque towards an engine torque engagement point that is determined based on at least one of an engine torque, a feed-forward engine torque, and an engine flare feedback.
 27. The method of claim 21, wherein the first phase further comprises increasing the on-coming first phase torque to a pre-fill torque, wherein the pre-fill torque comprises a plate-touch-point torque that is a torque transmitted when clutch plates come into an initial contact.
 28. A dual clutch transmission comprising: a first clutch; a second clutch; a clutch control assembly in communication with the first clutch and the second clutch, the clutch control assembly configured to power on up shift by: implementing a first phase that establishes an on-coming first phase torque of the second clutch and an off-going first phase torque of the first clutch such that a first phase slippage between the second clutch and the first clutch does not occur; implementing a second phase, after the first phase, wherein an on-coming second phase torque is increased and an off-going second phase torque is simultaneously decreased such that a combination of the two second phase torques is greater than a slip point, until the off-going second phase torque reaches a baseline off-going second phase torque; and implementing a third phase, after the second phase, wherein a net negative torque is imparted to the engine by increasing an on-coming third phase torque.
 29. The dual clutch transmission of claim 28, wherein the net negative torque is imparted to the engine by increasing the on-coming third torque until the engine speed decreases and is in alignment with a speed of the on-coming clutch.
 30. The dual clutch transmission of claim 29, wherein the third phase further includes decreasing an off-going third phase torque from the baseline off-going second phase torque to a final off-going third phase torque and during a disconnect period.
 31. The dual clutch transmission of claim 30, wherein the disconnect period occurs when the net negative torque is imparted to the engine by increasing the on-coming third phase torque.
 32. The dual clutch transmission of claim 28, wherein the first phase further comprises: decreasing the on-coming first phase torque on the first clutch; determining a first phase slip point of the first clutch when the first phase slippage occurs; and adding a bump torque to the first clutch when the first clutch begins to slip at the first phase slip point, the bump torque preventing any further slip.
 33. The dual clutch transmission of claim 32, wherein increasing the on-coming second phase torque comprises increasing the on-coming second phase torque towards an engine torque engagement point that is determined based on at least one of an engine torque, a feed-forward engine torque, and an engine flare feedback.
 34. The dual clutch transmission of claim 28, wherein the first phase further comprises increasing torque on the second clutch to a pre-fill torque, wherein the pre-fill torque comprises a plate-touch-point torque that is a torque transmitted when clutch plates come into an initial contact.
 35. A system for operating a dual clutch transmission, including a clutch control assembly configured to: implement a first phase that establishes an on-coming torque and an off-going torque such that a slippage between the on-coming clutch and the off-going clutch does not occur; implement a second phase, after the first phase, wherein the on-coming torque is increased and the off-going torque is simultaneously decreased such that a combination of the two torques is greater than a second phase slip point, until the off-going torque reaches a baseline off-going torque; and implement a third phase, after the second phase, wherein a net negative torque is imparted to the engine by increasing the on-coming torque.
 36. The system of claim 35, wherein clutch control assembly configured to impart the net negative torque to the engine by increasing the on-coming torque until the engine speed decreases and is in alignment with a speed of the on-coming clutch.
 37. The system of claim 36, wherein the clutch control assembly is further configured to implement the third phase by being configured to decrease the off-going torque from the baseline off-going torque to a final off-going torque and during a disconnect period, and wherein the disconnect period occurs when the net negative torque is imparted to the engine by increasing the on-coming torque.
 38. The system of claim 35, wherein the clutch control assembly is further configured to implement the first phase by being configured to: decrease the off-going torque on the off-going clutch; determine a first phase slip point of the off-going clutch when the slippage occurs; and add a bump torque to the off-going clutch when the off-going clutch begins to slip at the first phase slip point, the bump torque preventing any further slip.
 39. The system of claim 38, wherein the clutch control assembly is configured to increase torque on the on-coming clutch during the second phase by increasing torque on the on-coming clutch towards an engine torque engagement point that is determined based on at least one of an engine torque, a feed-forward engine torque, and an engine flare feedback.
 40. The system of claim 35, wherein the clutch control assembly is configured to implement the first phase by increasing torque on the on-coming clutch to a pre-fill torque, wherein the pre-fill torque comprises a plate-touch-point torque that is a torque transmitted when clutch plates come into an initial contact. 